Accessories

To make it onto this list, headphones must shine in the following areas: They must be exceptionally comfortable, they must be well built and they must have superior sonic quality. No earphones that have to be inserted into the ear are included in this list and any Bluetooth headphones featured have to include a microphone for convenient conversing. Sounds simple enough right? Well, it would be, except for the fact that there are so many great headphone options out there. Coming up with a condensed list of 20 headphones to highlight out of the hundreds of great choices on the market was no easy task, but after a year spent studying the intricacies and nuances of a great many headphones, this list represents 2014's cream of the crop.

I recently added a new car stereo and it comes with a USB port for charging and music playback. I love it because the sound quality is better than Bluetooth, and I can keep my iPhone charged while on long trips. I have been on the lookout for the right sized cable that's not too long and not too short. The last thing I want in the car is a a forty-inch cable interfering with driving.

If you've ever tried to use your touch screen with regular gloves on, you know it does not work. At. All. The gloves that are out there that do work with a touch screen are usually either kind of ugly or don't keep your hands warm. You can't seem to get the best of both worlds. Knowing this, the people over at Proporta created unisex One size fits all Touch Screen Gloves($13.99) that are nice looking and very thick and warm.

If you bought an iPhone 6 Plus, you probably have enough to carry around, so wouldn't it be nice if you didn't need to carry a separate wallet? After all, you can use Apple Pay to pay for many purchases, and for those times when you need a photo ID or traditional credit card, a fullsize wallet would be overkill. The folks at BulletTrain had a case for the iPhone 5 that doubled as a wallet, and now they are using Kickstarter to fund an iPhone 6 Plus version.

The holidays are almost upon us, which means it's time for family and friends, turkey, and stress. And, for many of us, it also means it's time to travel. There is no better travel companion than your trusty iPhone. As much as I love my new iPhone 6, when I’m on the road I like to bring along some of my favorite accessories to make my life a little easier and the trip a little more comfortable. Here is a run down of my top picks for all your holiday travel plans.

Forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Those days are in the past. It is now the week of Christmas and any hopes of getting a gift in time require either spending a fortune in shipping, buying a virtual gift online, or, my preference, buying local. If I needed a reminder of this, all I had to do was look at my inbox this morning. While it's normally full of app review requests, today I saw a ton of "Last Chance" emails!

Every iOS user can use a stylus once in a while, no matter what Steve Jobs said. Some games are easier to play if your finger (and hand) don't obstruct the view. Sometimes you might need to draw or sign a signature. Here are some styluses that work well:

The Poly-Control Danalock is a Bluetooth-enabled smartlock ($159, varies by model) designed to work with your existing dead bolt. Once installed, you can control the dead bolt from your iPhone, configure it to auto-unlock when you are in proximity to the door, and allow others to similarly lock/unlock your doors. I had to wrestle with it a bit to get it installed and working, but the concept works well once it is configured.

In this day and age it's become commonplace for us to do just about everything with our iDevices, which means that we need gear that can keep up with us on any outlandish escapades, as well as on our day to day grind. The items featured here represent some of the best in their respective categories; built tough and designed with integrity and durability to handle the adventures that lie ahead. Many of the products featured here have impressive MIL-STD or IP ratings, which you can learn more about by clicking HERE.

Here at iPhone Life we love turning people on to great gear that fits their specific purpose and need and we're hoping that these reviews will make your holiday shopping that much easier. Whether as a present for yourself, or as gift idea for family or friends, this list of exceptional products will help you find the perfect accessories.